El Gato Perezoso

I was lucky enough to have a weekend off when I went for a short work trip to Mexico City in March 2011. I spent one day at the Teotihuacan pyramids, marvelling at the construction, and another day seeing the sights of the Mexico City. I strolled through the San Angel market full of vibrant art, popcorn machines, and a concert band under a rotunda. I walked around the Museo del Carmen, which is a former convent that's been turned into a museum (complete with mummies in the crypt). My day ended with a visit to "La Casa Azul" (The Blue House) where the artist Frida Khalo made her home. It's a wonderful museum now with a lovely garden (which has its own pyramid, as you do).

I was wandering around enjoying the sunlight when I spotted this guy who'd found his own little bit of shade, and didn't look like he was in any hurry to move. A very lazy cat.

Anise, Atrice and Twitchy

I'm much more of a dog person that a cat person, but this has slowly been changing, after my bonding experience with Mangy in the Philippines, and now in Lebanon. We'd seen a fluffy cat wandering around the work compound and eventually we discovered that she'd had three kittens. It took a while to discover this as she'd been hiding out on the roof of one of the prefab containers our offices are in, but finally she brought them down. And promptly disappeared. We started giving them powdered milk (for babies) and named them Anise (meaning the friendly one), Atrice (the chubby one) and Twitchy (the scared one) once their personalities became clearer.

Atrice and Twitchy (pictured in front) would have nothing to do with us, other than hang around in the mornings waiting to be fed. Anise (pictured behind) on the other hand, was very sociable, and would spend hours sleeping on people's laps, or giving cuddles. It was winter time and quite chilly, so they would all pile on top of each other, or wrap their tails around each other to share warmth, like in the picture above. If you tried to approach Anise at this time, the others would bolt off, hissing as they ran.

One tragic morning, we were told that Anise was dead. It took a long time to confirm this, with different guards giving different stories, but in the end it was discovered that she was found outside, and appeared unharmed. We guessed it must have been a snake bite, or the cold. It was a very sad day for those of us who knew and loved Anise.

A couple of days later, an incredible thing happened. Twitchy stepped up and let himself be patted. We were shocked. But even more so, when a couple of hours later he was found curled up on a colleague's lap, sleeping soundly. We summised that he knew his sister had been the family breadwinner, encouraging us to feed them with her cuddly charms, and now that she was gone, someone else would need to fill her shoes. Twitchy remains as cuddly as ever, but some three months on, Atrice still won't come near us.

The Cats of Constantinople

I spent a few glorious days in Istanbul last year, and was amazed at the sheer number of healthy, shiny-coated cats in the streets. In other places I've lived and visited, the cats are the most pathetic creatures wandering the streets, all skin and bones, but not in Istanbul.

My wonderful travel buddy and I both marveled over these gorgeous felines, parading down little alleys, sitting on discarded armchairs, or investigating large potted plants. On this particular day we'd set out to find some funky boutiques and antique stores but alas, being a Sunday, everything was closed. We found ourselves in a maze of tiny streets, with shuttered windows, washing hanging on lines, and cats. Endless cats.

These two black cats were hanging out in an empty lot beside an antique store, and I wish I had a panorama view to share, because to the left there was another beautiful cat curled up on an armchair (which may make an appearance here at a later stage) and more to the right. There's definitely a calendar to be made of the cats of Istanbul!

Cat nap

If I believed in reincarnation I'd want to come back as a domestic cat. I can't imagine a more blissful life than napping 6 times a day, getting back rubs when I wanted them, scratches under the chin and on the side of the face. Yep, life would be pretty sweet.

And that's how it seemed for this cat in the Philippines. I spotted him just minutes before I came across gigantor-pig. He seemed very happy to be stretched out on the side of the sink, not caring if he left orange hairs all over the clean dishes, and staying cool in the shade. While I was still feeling the high of such gorgeous surroundings, I couldn't help but wish we could trade places, just for forty winks or so.

The Story of Mangy

I hadn’t planned on telling the story of Mangy so early on, but in light of recent events, I thought I should share a success story. When I moved to the Philippines I was very lucky as a staff house had just been established; my colleagues had spent previous months (and in some cases years) holed up in a nearby hotel. I’m not entirely sure how the cat family came to be part of the household, if they came with the house or just smelled the food, but Grandma, Mum and the kitten soon became part of daily life. Grandma and Mum were named for obvious reasons, but it took a little while to decide on a name for the kitten: Mangy. She was a pathetic looking thing, I was initially scared to go anywhere near her because she looked so terrible. But sure enough, I caved in, and would spend a lot of time curled up on the couch outside on the patio with Mangy curled up beside me. I started giving the cats milk every morning, and my leftover dinner every night. Soon enough, it became clear that Grandma was pregnant again, and then there were another three tiny kitties to admire. Well, as is the way of life, two of the kittens didn’t survive very long, which was very sad indeed…particularly as I found one of them one lunch time. Throughout all of this upheaval, Mangy became more and more outgoing and interested in the world around her, and became stronger and healthier and much less ugly.

Mangy is one of my happiest success stories...I don't know where she is now, but I hope she's thriving.